La Monita

[jfchandler]

The wife and I had another great meal at La Monita the other day...

Small carne asada fries for us to share and a pair of regular (which means pretty large) burritos... chorizo for me, and beef steak for the Mrs.... The food once again was really great... delicious... flavorful.... juicy... generous portions and more... We both left stuffed and more than happy.

Their burritos really remind me of the (good variety of) taco truck offerings back in L.A. - large enough to fill your entire hand when holding one, soft steamed flour tortilla outside and loads of juicy toppings inside... all blending together into something really wonderful... Not to mention always having a choice of either refried beans or whole beans on your burritos... or skipping them altogether. I prefer the whole beans approach.

Seems that their chorizo is now a regularly available meat for menu items, even though it's not listed on their printed menu as yet. But I heard a new and much expanded menu (about 5 pages of dishes vs. the current 1 page) is on the way... perhaps in about one week...

That, and a bunch of new dishes, including dinner plates complete with rice and beans... And other stuff, including what sounds like several different versions of chili rellenos, some enchillada choices and more, including an expanded selection of salsas, beyond the several that they already have...

With the very recent arrival of La Monita, Tacos and Salsa and Los Cabos, and the older establishments already here such as Sunrise Tacos and Charlie Brown's, the Mexican food environment in BKK is really blooming.

If you want that trend to continue, please frequent the outlet of your choice, or choices, as the case may be. That's the only way they're going to stay in business and thrive... Otherwise, it's back to...

[ricklev]

Have they actually added dinner plates complete with rice and beans to the menu. That would make sense. They seemed nice enough, but confused by the idea when I try to order it. Does it cost extra? Who knows? It seems like its offered as a favor you have to ask for. Just put it on the menu please along with a price......

[Powerband]

Too bad you had a bad experience there. Lots of people really like the place and appreciate what Jorge is doing.

But people have different feelings about food, usually based on what they grew up eating.

Myself.....I like messy, greasy, oily Mexican food with lots of cheese, beef, and chile. (But have never thought the corn tortillas were oily at Tacos and Salsa.)

I never think about healthy food when eating Mexican food.

Maybe you like the healthy California style with bean sprout enchiladas or something.

Whatever. To each his own. Positive feedback is good for all of the owners of Mexican restaurants in Thailand.

The good news is that, unlike in the past, we are starting to see several fairly good Mexican places in town.

Nope, i dont like the healthy style, thats yuppy food...Im from Texas and like it just as thick and rich as yourself, especially enchiladas that melt in your mouth, drowned in chili sauce, but keep the oil off the tortillas please...like i said before there are other reasons to heat tortillas in oil, that i will not get into unless im pressed to do it.

Positive feedback is good, but it has to be true...and not switched back with the bait and switch once you get there, like i received twice at Tacos and Salsa...i hate that shit.

La Monita gives you what they say they will, and in portions that will make you full, with meat that has went through proper preparation.

Edited January 24, 2010 by Powerband

[Tejas]

Too bad you had a bad experience there. Lots of people really like the place and appreciate what Jorge is doing.

But people have different feelings about food, usually based on what they grew up eating.

Myself.....I like messy, greasy, oily Mexican food with lots of cheese, beef, and chile. (But have never thought the corn tortillas were oily at Tacos and Salsa.)

I never think about healthy food when eating Mexican food.

Maybe you like the healthy California style with bean sprout enchiladas or something.

Whatever. To each his own. Positive feedback is good for all of the owners of Mexican restaurants in Thailand.

The good news is that, unlike in the past, we are starting to see several fairly good Mexican places in town.

Nope, i dont like the healthy style, thats yuppy food...Im from Texas and like it just as thick and rich as yourself, especially enchiladas that melt in your mouth, drowned in chili sauce, but keep the oil off the tortillas please...like i said before there are other reasons to heat tortillas in oil, that i will not get into unless im pressed to do it.

Positive feedback is good, but it has to be true...and not switched back with the bait and switch once you get there...i hate that shit.

OK. You have made your point clear. I wonder if it would be productive for some person to open the following thread:

Positive advice to the owners of Los Cabos, Sunrise Tacos, La Monita, and Tacos and Salsa.

That positive advice might, obviously, include some negative impressions followed up by positive suggestions.

If somebody does this, it should not turn out to be a I hate this place and love the other place, etc.

Just positive suggestions on what we want to see on the plate, costs, services, etc.

Competition is a good thing. It often leads to positive changes for consumers.

In the end we might end up with some really good Mexican food.

It would also be nice if the moderators would allow feedback from the owners without making them feel like they are doing something wrong by talking about their restaurants.

Some of us want to hear from the owners. All of us want really good Mexican food.

[jfchandler]

In answer to your question, we were there last Friday (two days ago), and the owner then indicated the new menu with the dinner plate offerings ought to be available (both the document itself and the accompanying dishes) in about one week's time.

That said, they seem a pretty accommodating bunch there... I haven't done so...but if a customer asked....I want this menu item and please give me helpings of rice and beans on the side, I'd imagine they'd try to accommodate that...for some extra charge, of course. But right now....there's nothing like that formalized on their current menu...just entrees only.

Keep in mind, they only opened just before the end of last year, so they're still very much a work in progress. But I've eaten there three or four times thus far, and one thing I can say...everything I've had each time has been consistently good. I hope that's a standard they can continue.

Have they actually added dinner plates complete with rice and beans to the menu. That would make sense. They seemed nice enough, but confused by the idea when I try to order it. Does it cost extra? Who knows? It seems like its offered as a favor you have to ask for. Just put it on the menu please along with a price......

[steven100]

Hi all ,

Looking forward to our La Monita review coming up this week ... will post you all soon. !! ( read all the posts and most seem happy enough )

Also, our Los Cabos should be included in that post.

We have eaten at every Mexican restaurant in Bangkok.

Senor Pico - Good food overall but this is a bit expensive & caters for more upmarket dining.

Tacos & Salsa - Not to bad although we found the beef & food generally is quite bland.

Sunrise - This reminds me of what we called ' Taco Bell ' ' cafeteria' type food.

Coyotee's - Atmosphere great , looks and feels like a good restaurant. Food is quite tasty ..the beef is good.

Charlie Browns - I'm not sure where car number plates on the wall fit into mexican food. But I remember when this place first opened we went many times as there Nachos were so huge !! shredded beef . good cheese & sour cream ( thick ).

There have also been others we travelled to that have come and gone !

there use to be one over in Silom years ago named ' fiesta ' or similar that was quite good. Also one down the back of soi 23 called Maria .

Good Mexican food -

Fresh corn chips

Shredded beef

Thick sour cream

Tasty Salsa

Include taquitos in the menu

Authentic tacos - using lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, salsa, beef or chicken

Hot Jalepinoes

Also offer Tabasco sauce or similar

A reasonably good quality cheese always fresh and spreads well.

Corona of course.

Atmosphere plays a big part in where our group eat & if the surroundings compliment the type of food then thats a big plus.

Cheers,

[NanaFoods]

Yes, in most Mexi restaurants I've seen that is called a "combination" menu section:

Basically -- rice and beans (and sometimes another item like Mexican style sweet corn bread)

plus your choice of a list of simple common entrees (like meat or cheese enchilada, chile rellano, taco, sope, etc..):

1 item = such and such price

2 items = such and such price

The more fancy entrees are usually listed separately and at a higher price.

[sbk]

Unless you have some sort of disagreement with ThaiVisa I think you should consider not posting details about your restaurant in the thread about another restaurant. I can explain why this is a bad choice in person to you when I next visit your establishment. Maybe figure out why the thread on your restaurant was closed and then ask if you can open a new one, where you can update your many satisfied customers (not "costumers") can stay up to date on your current promotions.

I just did a search on TV for Sunrise Tacos and found this (see below). Is it a promotion? Does it describe details? Maybe the "new policy" needs to be clarified. Owners can no longer post?

The owner of Tacos and Salsa rarely posts. When he does he usually is responding to what others have posted about his place.

I, for one, do not mind an occasional update from owners on what is happening at their place. I can, see, however, how such updates could "cross the line" and come across as free advertising.

How about one update per month is OK?

Cinco de Mayo at Sunrise Tacos! http://www.sunrisetacos.com/

Break out the maracas and celebrate! It's that time of year once again when people all over the world mark the Mexican army's unlikely defeat of French forces at the Battle of Puebla, back on May 5, 1862.

Sunrise Tacos is giving a special promotion to mark the event: buy two cold Corona beers and get one free Corona beer from today till May 5th.

On May 5th, for every 500 baht you spend at Sunrise Tacos you will get a free "I love Tacos" or "I love Burritos" shirt! The shirt normally sells for 250 baht.

Your souvenir Giant Margarita Glass is yours to keep when you fill it with Frosty Fruit Freeze of Lime, Mango or Strawberry for 199 baht (all fruits freezes are 100% fruit with no pre-mix).

Like to turn your Giant Frosty Freeze into a frozen Jose Cuervo Margarita? Sunrise will add three shots of Jose Cuervo Clasico Tequila and a shot of Triple Sec for FREE to your Giant Glass on May 5th! This GIANT glass once filled is equivalent to a pitcher of margarita and it will cost you just 199 baht!

Sunrise Tacos will also have plenty of delicious food: Tacos, Burritos, Enchiladas, Fajitas and much more!

These promotions are being offered at the Sunrise Tacos branch on Sukhumvit Road between Soi 12 and Soi 14. This store never closes. You can also enjoy the promotions at the Sunrise Tacos restaurant near the Secret Recipe store on the ground floor of the Siam Paragon shopping mall.

Celebrate as well at the Emporium Mall branch, on the fifth floor in the Park Food Hall located near Mos Burger and Swenson's.

Mexican food is a huge part of celebrating Cinco de Mayo, so be sure to come out and celebrate with us at one of our biggest fiestas of the year! Rattle and roll those maracas baby!

-- Sunrise Tacos 2009-05-04

http://www.sunrisetacos.com/

Sunrise Tacos is owned by a sponsor and the post on TV was made at the request of the owner of this site. Suggest you drop the issue you have here as any further posts in this vein will result in more formal moderator action than a simple informational post by me.

Lets drop the smear campaigns and get back on discussion or this thread too will be closed. Cheers

[Tejas]

Yes, in most Mexi restaurants I've seen that is called a "combination" menu section:

Basically -- rice and beans (and sometimes another item like Mexican style sweet corn bread)

plus your choice of a list of simple common entrees (like meat or cheese enchilada, chile rellano, taco, sope, etc..):

1 item = such and such price

2 items = such and such price

The more fancy entrees are usually listed separately and at a higher price.

I miss those combination platters. But, I eat rice so often now, that I don't want to eat it at a Mexican restaurant in Thailand. I wonder if I am alone in this regard.

Maybe a "rice and beans", or a "rice or beans" option is a good idea. With different prices, of course.

Speaking of combination platters, I always like the food served hot and bubbly on a plate. I think you put them in some type of plate warmer prior to serving (maybe under a broiler).

That really makes a difference with things like frijoles, enchiladas, tamales, chile relleno.

Some do this now with fajitas. Maybe do it for all of the dishes and warn the customers: "The plate is hot."

[zaphodbeeblebrox]

Speaking of combination platters, I always like the food served hot and bubbly on a plate. I think you put them in some type of plate warmer prior to serving (maybe under a broiler). That really makes a difference with things like frijoles, enchiladas, tamales, chile relleno. Some do this now with fajitas. Maybe do it for all of the dishes and warn the customers the plate is hot.

Combination platters were really a Tex-Mex innovation and spread throughout the U.S., and then the world offering a large meal with beans and rice, and sometimes a salad, and a choice of entrees (1 to 4 depending on your appetite).

Those broilers are called salamanders and I've never seen one in Thailand. Great for making nachos or melting cheese over anything. They use a lot of gas, and produce quite a bit of heat in the kitchen, so maybe that's why you don't see them in western restaurants in Thailand.

[sbk]

I think this one has gone on long enough as well. All the information needed can be found and I, for one, am getting heartily tired of having to come through and edit this thread.

//CLOSED//